It is known that in many sports it is essential that the player be able to grip a playing implement with a minimum of slip, without however losing the touch sensitivity and control which is required for the particular sport. Typical of sports in which this is the case is tennis in which the racket must be gripped by the hand of the player with a minimum of unwanted slip.
For this purpose rosin and chalk in pulvurulent form have been used heretofore and indeed the development of an effective antislip composition has evoked various interests to the point that even more complex antislip compositions have been developed. Typical of these compositions is one which contains rosin, microcrystalline hydrocarbons (microcrystalline waxes or micro waxes) and paraffin. One such composition is described in British patent specification No. 1,468,517.
The composition of this patent is applied to the hand or the fingers to prevent slip of sporting implements such as rackets or paddles for ball sports, bowling balls and the like. The conventional composition for this purpose comprises between 0.5 and 1% of its total weight rosin, up to 10% of the total weight microcrystalline wax and between 0.5 and 5% of the total weight water-free lanolin, the balance being paraffin, coloring ingredients and perfuming ingredients.
The lanolin preparation is sufficiently high so that the mixture is comparatively soft and easily adheres to the fingers and the skin but nevertheless is sufficiently hard or dry to prevent smearing.
In the fabrication of this composition, the components are mixed together and melted or otherwise formed into a melt which is cooled under slow stirring and shortly before solidification is cast into molds of the desired shape so that the composition can be made available to the consumer in a solid bar-like form, such as soap bars or packages. A disadvantage of this antislip agent is the need to coat it onto the hands and thus it is necessary to wash the agent from the hands or wipe the agent from the hands subsequently. In addition, when the hand grips the implement, the material is transferred thereto and can accumulate on the handle or on the implement so that one then grips it with clean hands when it is soiled. The accumulations of the antislip agents tends to pick up dirt and other contaminants so that this is yet another disadvantage.
In the publication Eurosport & Freizeitmode 10/1977, page 1796, a spray for the grip of a tennis racket is described which, when applied to the handle of the racket maintains the band or strap which is wound to form this handle relatively soft and grippable so that the player has improved impact control. Nothing is said in this publication, however, as to the composition and characteristics of this spray.